Nintendo Disappoints Zelda Fans Twice

Nintendo Disappoints Zelda Fans Twice

Last week was a good week for Nintendo fans with the announcement of Nintendo-branded games coming to mobile platforms. This week has not been the same shining light for fans of the Zelda franchise, however, as Nintendo has made a few announcements that are disappointing.

Live Action Netflix Series

Several weeks ago, it was reported that Nintendo and Netflix were working to bring a live-action Zelda series to the streaming platform. As it turns out, The Wall Street Journal may have misspoke when they published this report, as Nintendo is now saying that is not true. In fact, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said,

As of now, I have nothing new to share with you in regard to the use of our IPs for any TV shows or films, but I can at least confirm that the article in question is not based on correct information.

While this is not an all-out denial, and far from a rejection of the concept or that discussions have begun, it is also far from a positive note. The idea of a live-action series was beginning to grow on fans, and the loss of what apparently never was is a disappointment. However, as I mentioned in the original article, there were a lot of reasons why it could have gone horribly wrong, not the least of which being that none of the characters in the franchise have any depth whatsoever. While it doesn't give show-runners a lot to work with, George Lucas managed to make quite a career out of undeveloped characters.

Legend of Zelda for Wii U

If the Netflix story was a disappointment for you, this one might be a crushing blow. The Legend of Zelda series announced at E3 2014 for the Wii U for a 2015 release will not be a reality. As it turns out, the game is bigger than they had originally estimated and the release has been pushed back past 2015. Producer Eiji Aonuma said,

I must apologize to you that were expecting the game by year's end, but we are no longer making a 2015 release our number one priority. Instead, our priority is to make it the most complete and ultimate Zelda game.

The good news here is that the company is still focusing on producing a game that people will love. During development, the team "discovered several new possibilities" for gameplay, which means the delay is likely because they found a way to make old new again, bringing a new way to enjoy Zelda again.

As I have watched our development progress, I have come top think that rather than work with meeting a specific schedule as our main objective, and releasing a game that reflects only what we can create within that scheduled time, I feel strongly that our focus should be to bring of these ideas to life in a way that will make The Legend of Zelda on Wii U the best game it can possibly be.

Unfortunately this means we won't be seeing the game again this year at E3. It does mean that when the game launches, likely in 2016, Nintendo's bar has been raised higher than before.